Cap and Trade Pros and Cons

We published this article last July and it has received such a large public response we felt it necessary to give it another run for your reading pleasure. Cap and Trade has been a highly controversial topic regarding renewable energy for several years now and while many have disputed that this is just another tax intended to punish polluters it does have positives that cannot be denied. Since the House passed the Waxman-Markey bill many politicians have taken the stance of implementing cap and trade to force renewable energy change at the expense of private citizens and businesses which is where the buck stops. Opponents to this move state simply that this enormous tax hike cannot and should not be any part of a clean energy act which is currently before the Senate after receiving passage by the U.S. Congress last year. Even more prevalent are all of the conspiracy theorists who believe that cap and trade is just the beginning of a global take over of national governments by the world’s wealthiest elite.

Companies such as British Petroleum having been vilified in the media are among the primary targets of cap and trade as they are seen as the largest polluters globally, and given recent events in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska and other locations around the world. Justifiably companies such as this should pay higher taxes much in the same way that cigarette smokers are now being forced to pay a similar tax increase as a means to forcing them to quit smoking. This is how the government has always dealt with enacting change on a national level and the only difference that exists regarding cap and trade is now they want to exercise their will on a global scale and that is not about to change anytime soon. There does exist another option that the majority of people have not considered which does not require government intervention of this magnitude albeit improbable at best as most people do not embrace change very well if at all unless otherwise forced to accept it in this manner.

Do-It-Yourself! We hear this term being used all of the time when it comes to our home repairs and renovations, or starting a business, or as the old saying goes, “If you want something done right – Do-It-Yourself”! There is no denying that the manner of use and the sources of our energy which for hundreds of years have been carbon based oil, coal and gas have made and continue to make a significant impact on the earth’s climate. Yet millions of people continue to use them as they always have simply because they refuse to embrace the necessary change that must be made to reverse its effect on our climate. There are other causes to the resilient rejection of this needed change by most people such as the costs involved which are the primary motivating factor but that does not negate the fact that this change must be made without question.

It is extremely obvious that given our environments limitations in coping with all of the poisons we have been literally dumping into it that change must come before it is too late. Much like an aquarium filled with fish is slowly filled with toxins which come from the actions of their simply living and which will inevitably kill them when that environment becomes too toxic to support life our world too is quickly filling with poisons. The simplest thing we can do to avoid the necessity of cap and trade is to choose to make this change on our own and without being forced into it through a government imposed tax. There is no other option, there is no other technology and if you refuse to Do-It-Yourself then the governments of the world will do it for you.